Today is the last day of the first week of the March semester.

Geez, that sentence just looks weird, doesn’t it?

The good thing is that I have a co-teacher to share my ENGL102 misery with.   102 is the next to lowest English class.   It generally involves a lot of hand-holding and really panicked students.  A couple of years ago, a college I worked for determined that it was a better idea to have a huge 102 classes with two adjuncts instead of regularly sized classes with one adjunct.

Why, do you ask?
The tag line was that the adjuncts could work and learn from each other and help foster a feeling of community.

The real reason is that the co-teacher is paid signigicantly less.   Larger classrooms means fewer classes, which saves the people in the Ivory Tower money.

The bad thing is that I have a co-teacher.   She professes to have a doctorate as she habitually adds “Dr” in front of her last name, but that’s really about all I know about her.

She hasn’t posted an introduction for the class.  She’s only answered one of the students — which is bad.  For the first week, both of us have to answer everyone.  The ‘getting to know you’ email I sent was returned with a couple of sentences.   I think it was:

“We’ll make a great team”
and
“Let’s keep the communication line open!”

Other then that, I have no clue about her grading habits, potentially other jobs, or which days she wants to participate.    So, zero.  Nada.   I’m sure this is going to be a “great team.”

I certainly — do not — want to know about her personally, although that tends to be part of working together.   But, I tend to be pretty hands-on in the classroom and her complete lack of caring makes me a little nervous.   Because, if she doesn’t do her job, I’ll probably be asked to do it.

That’s not fair to the students.   Even if a rubric is involved, one adjunct is bound to have different way of grading than the other.  We leave different notes.   Different interpretation of instructions.   And it’s just not professional to switch off just because the Dr is out mentally and physically.

I don’t know.   Maybe she feels like she’s to high to associate with a grunt like me.

Honestly, I don’t consider myself a grunt.  But, in this work environment, I’m a grunt.   I’ve learned to be okay with that.

Not really, but being an adjunct isn’t my life.  So, it’s okay.

Well, I guess that’s what supervisors are for.  In theory, they’re supposed to check in on the class every couple of weeks.   Right now, it’s blaintly obvious that the Dr isn’t doing jack and crap.    That’s on them.    I’m just holding the first week together until I can split the class.

I already feel a little bit of joy knowing that she’s going to be responsible for the student who penned this line:

If more workplaces using  this technique I am sure they would have more happier employees then having grumpy or less employees there.

By the luck of the draw, that student is going to be on the Dr’s side without question.   I’m okay with that.

Otherwise, today was a little unnatural, but okay.   My mom, sister and I went clothes shopping for my sister since she got a date for when she starts her new job — Next Tuesday.

The three of us being out shopping just felt kind of unnatural.   This isn’t really something that we did when we were little or even when we grew up.  It just didn’t happen and today it did.    And it was a little ackward.

Sorry.   I lost a (10) minutes there.   I went to see if I spelled ‘ackward’ right cause I tend not to.    Spent some time looking at ackward family pictures instead.    What’s the deail with the floating head thing and monkey pictures?   That just screams Freud.

Anyway, little sister got three or four new outfits for next week.   She’s getting her blazers drycleaned and soon she will begin work again… and maybe I’ll have some days of the week to myself again.      Looking forward to it.

Either way, it’s all good.

Well, some assignments came in and I better grade them.   It’s just 7:30 and I already feel like I’m ready to go to sleep.  Or is it 8:30?   We’re ‘springing forward’ this weekend which means my internal clock will be off for about three months.

Best-